Brothers' Tears

Book excerpt: A double murder reveals the dirty dealings and family secrets of a former Irish rugby star in “a formidable puzzle” for the “indomitable” British detective (Kirkus Reviews). Irish ex-rugby player and now successful businessman, Jim O’Connor, was shot dead at point blank range in the parking lot of Claughton Towers where he was hosting a celebratory dinner. DCI Percy Peach is brought back from holiday to head up the high-profile investigation. It doesn’t take long before he has a surfeit of suspects on close watch—from the victim’s cheating wife to an avenging crime lord to the head of a local prostitution ring to an assassin for the Provisional IRA. Considering Jim’s dicey past, and shadier associations, each suspect has a clear motive. But the case takes a sharp detour when Jim’s upstanding and much-loved brother Dominic is murdered next. To piece together this deadly puzzle, Peach looks a little closer to home, where the most dangerous impulses may run foul in the O’Connor family blood. “This series [is] a winner.” —Booklist